NATO’s air police have been placed on higher readiness in response to a near-collision between a Russian and a Polish aircraft.
The incident occurred near Romania on Friday while the Polish aircraft was conducting a patrol over the Black Sea as part of its duties with Frontex, the European Union’s border agency. The headquarters of Frontex is in Warsaw, Poland.
NATO Air Policing Detachments Prepared
NATO air policing detachments have been placed on heightened readiness in response to the dangerous behavior of a Russian military aircraft over the Black Sea near Romania on Friday, an official report.
The official did not respond to questions regarding the assessment of Russia’s intent in the incident by NATO.
The Russian Su-35 jet performed three aggressive and dangerous maneuvers toward the Polish aircraft. As a result, the Polish crew lost control and altitude, according to the Polish Border Guard’s social media posts. At one point, the crew estimated that the Russian aircraft was only five meters away.
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Russia Denies MQ-9 Incident Misconduct
Russian planes frequently fly in an unsafe and unprofessional manner close to planes from other countries, according to U.S. officials.
U.S. officials claim that some of these maneuvers could lead to unintended escalation. In March, this behavior began to increase, according to U.S. officials.
A Russian Su-35 aircraft engaged in an unsafe and unprofessional intercept with an American F-16 aircraft over Syria just a few weeks ago, according to the Pentagon.
The most recent incident occurred two months after a Russian Su-27 aircraft conducted an unsafe and unprofessional maneuver over the Black Sea, ultimately colliding with a U.S. drone.
After the incident, the MQ-9 aircraft of the United States Air Force was completely destroyed due to the damage it sustained.
In the MQ-9 incident, the Russian aircraft made a provocative move by spraying fuel in front of the drone.
Russia denied acting unprofessionally and hitting the U.S. drone at the time. According to Russian officials, the drone crashed after executing a sharp maneuver and was en route to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Russia annexed in 2014.
John Kirby, then-coordinator of the National Security Council at the White House, stated at the time that such actions would not deter the United States from operating over the Black Sea so long as Russia continued to wage war in Ukraine.
If the message is intended to discourage us from flying and operating in international airspace over the Black Sea, it will fail. Kirby stated in March that we will continue to fly and operate in international airspace over international waters.
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